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Billy Cranston | |
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Power Rangers character | |
![]() David Yost as Billy Cranston | |
First appearance | Day of the Dumpster ( Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ) |
Portrayed by | David Yost (teenager and adult) Billy Nilles (child, season 1) Justin Timsit (child, seasons 2-3) William Frederick Knight (old, Zeo ) RJ Cyler (2017 reboot) Yves Bright ( Power/Rangers ) [1] |
In-universe information | |
Title | Blue Power Ranger Blue Ninja Ranger |
Home | Earth |
Color(s) | Blue |
Status | Active |
Zords | Triceratops Dinozord Unicorn Thunderzord Wolf Ninjazord Blue Shogunzord |
Billy Cranston is a fictional character in the Power Rangers universe. He is the Blue Ranger (triceratops) in the series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and was portrayed by actor David Yost. Billy is the only original Power Ranger to remain for the entire MMPR series, and is the second longest-serving Ranger overall behind Tommy Oliver. Until his departure, he is considered the brains of the Power Rangers team, creating many gadgets with which to solve problems that not even Zordon foresees, and he even invents the first team's wrist-worn communication devices. [2] A reimagined version of Billy appears in 2017 reboot film, played by actor RJ Cyler.
Billy is one of the five "teenagers with attitude" selected by Zordon to become the original Power Rangers, along with Jason Lee Scott, Zack Taylor, Trini Kwan and Kimberly Hart. Billy becomes the Blue Power Ranger and is given both the Triceratops Power Coin and the Triceratops Dinozord. [3]
Billy begins the series as the stereotypical "nerd." The other Rangers, especially Trini, defend him loyally, but Billy later evolves to become a stronger individual. He is one of the top members of Angel Grove High's science club and often helps its younger members with their experiments. One such example is with Willy, a young boy he helps to create a virtual reality simulator for a Science Fair. In the episode "High Five," Billy creates not only the wrist communicators the Power Rangers use, but also the interface that allows the devices a remote access to the Command Center's teleportation unit.
It is revealed that, due to an experience in his youth when he was bitten by a fish during an experiment involving whirlpools, Billy developed icthyophobia: fear of fish. This fear affects him well into his teens, when Rita uses a spell to exacerbate this fear. When he is the last Ranger left able to contend with the Goo Fish monster, Billy overcomes the spell and then, after helping to free his friends and defeat the monster, completely overcomes the fear itself on a fishing trip with Ernie, the owner of the Youth Center.
Each of Billy's teammates have a unique skill to offer the team and, in Billy's case, it is his vast intelligence. He seeks out to improve himself physically, and the audience sees him transition over time from the suspenders-wearing "brain" to a confident, hyper-intelligent athlete with fighting skills, thanks in great part to Trini's Uncle Howard. Jason and later Tommy help graduate Billy to the red belt level in karate.
Billy's intelligence helps the Rangers save the world on many occasions. When the Command Center is damaged, Zordon lost and Alpha incapacitated, it is his invention, a car called the RADBUG, that allows the Rangers to travel to the Command Center. He performs an array of tasks, ranging from creating the method for which the Rangers use initially to infiltrate Rita's Dark Dimension, to disarming the lock-out mechanism for Alpha's activated self-destruct, and many other achievements. Though Billy does manage to attract girls earlier in his "nerd-like" persona, it is after he begins his journey toward self-improvement that he garners more attention from romantic interests, even more so than the other members of the team.
Billy is accepted into the Young Scientists of America program. In Season 2, he befriends Zack's cousin Curtis when he becomes the newest student at Angel Grove High. Curtis' musical interests, particularly in playing the trumpet, sparks Billy's interest into the rhythmic patterns of jazz music.
Later in Season 2, a time-traveling Kimberly recruits Billy's ancestor, also named William Cranston, in the 1880s to become the first Blue Ranger when she assembles and takes command of the Wild West Ranger team in a battle against Goldar and other time traveling foes. Also in Season 2, Billy commands the Unicorn Thunderzord.
In season 3, Billy gains new powers from Ninjor, who gives him the Wolf Power Coin, and becomes the Blue Ninja Ranger.
The Rangers are de-aged by a time reversal spell performed by Rita Repulsa's father, Master Vile. Billy devises a plan to restore the Rangers' ages using a machine that ran off the power coins. Billy restores himself, but Rita and Goldar steal the machine, and Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa destroy all six Ninja Power Coins. With his Wolf Ninja Coin destroyed and his Triceratops Power Coin damaged beyond use, Billy's role changes. He no longer fights as a Power Ranger, but rather acts solely in an advisory and supporting role. Indeed, Billy is the only Ranger in this period still to be acted out by his regular actor – the others had been replaced temporarily by child actors after Master Vile had used the Orb of Doom to revert time by approximately ten years. Billy acts in this period as a liaison between the Aquitian Rangers and Earth. It is the cure for Billy's reverse-aging that eventually serves as the plot device by which he is removed from the show.
When Power Rangers Zeo begins, Billy officially retires from active Ranger service as the six-man team now only have the five segments of the Zeo Crystal as a power source for each member. Based on his recent experience basically working as a technical advisor for the active Rangers, Billy allows new member Tanya to take his place while he continus his supporting role by creating and maintaining most of the weaponry, gadgets and Zords the Zeo Rangers use.
The writers left the choice open as to whether or not Billy would become a Zeo Ranger, with him musing at the start of Zeo that he could always assume the Zeo power in an emergency. He graduates earlier than the rest of the team in "Graduation Blues," and then leaves Earth to address problems on the planet Aquitar. In "Mr. Billy's Wild Ride," he returns to Earth, but is attacked by the machine empire along the way and nearly captured. [4]
Before the Gold Ranger's identity is revealed as Trey of Triforia, the writers left red herrings to mislead the viewers into believing that the Gold Ranger is Billy, since he is never around when the Gold Ranger is active. When Trey of Triforia is injured and unable to continue acting as the Gold Ranger, Billy is selected to assume the Gold Ranger's powers while Trey returned to Triforia on sabbatical to try to unify his three selves. However, the negative proton energy that his body absorbed in the Command Center's explosion prevents Billy from taking the powers. Instead Jason Lee Scott, the former Red Ranger, receives the powers.
By the time of Jason's return, it is shown that Billy has worked his way up to a black belt in karate.
Billy is last seen in the two-part crossover episode, suffering from accelerated aging, a side effect from the regenerator he used to restore his proper age. To counter this, he travels to Aquitar for a cure from their Eternal Falls (analogous to the Fountain of Youth), which restores his real age; after that he opts to remain there with Cestria, a female Aquitian with whom he had fallen in love.
During the final episode of Power Rangers Super Megaforce - Legendary Battle - Billy participates in the eponymous battle as the Blue Mighty Morphin Power Ranger alongside other past and present Power Rangers. Yost does not reprise the role for this morphed appearance.
Billy makes another morphed appearance as the Blue Mighty Morphin Power Ranger for a second season episode of Power Rangers Beast Morphers - Grid Connection. The episode saw Austin St. John reprise the role of Jason Lee Scott, the Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger. Jason summons the other four core Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and the original three Dino Thunder rangers to join him and the Dino Charge rangers in battling a resurrected Goldar Maximus. Again, Yost did not return; Billy has no dialogue and remains morphed throughout the appearance.
For Hasbro PulseCon 2022, David Yost announced he would reprise the role of Billy to mark the 30th anniversary of the Power Rangers franchise. [5] Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always was released on Netflix on April 19, 2023. [6]
In the special, set 30 years after Zordon recruited the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Billy is now the founder and CEO of Cranston Technologies, which operates a secret Power Rangers command center under its headquarters. While attempting to re-establish contact with Zordon, Billy accidentally restores the evil spirit of Rita Repulsa, which takes over the body of Alpha 8 and becomes Robo-Rita. In the ensuing battle, Rita fires an energy blast at Billy which is intercepted by Trini, killing the Yellow Ranger in the process.
When Trini's daughter Minh blames him for her mother's death, Billy works to correct his mistakes until, a year later, Rita reappears and captures Tommy, Jason, and Kimberly. She plans to drain their energy to power a time machine that will allow her to contact her past self and alter the timeline in her favor.
Billy leads the remaining Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers - a team consisting of himself, Zack, Kat and Rocky - to thwart Rita's plan. Meanwhile, Minh steals Trini's morpher to join the fight but finds herself unable to use it and gets captured. Billy attempts to rescue her and Minh sacrifices herself to prevent him suffering the same fate as Trini. This action bonds her to the Sabre-Toothed Tiger Power Coin, which saves her and allows her to morph into the Yellow Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger. Billy instructs her on piloting the Megazord to defeat Rita's minions and the pair reconcile. It is then revealed that Billy and Cestria are still together and he decides, once he's dealt with some business matters on Earth, to resume his intergalactic travels.
Billy is a mentor to and member of the Cosmic Fury team, using his Mighty Morphin powers and piloting a zord. [7]
Yost reprises the role of Billy for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie , released in 1995, which sees the Power Rangers losing their powers after an encounter with the new villain Ivan Ooze (Paul Freeman). The Rangers go on a quest to restore their powers and save Zordon's life in the process. The events of the movie are non-canon to the television series, where a similar scenario plays out (minus Ivan Ooze) in the Ninja Quest saga near the start of the third season.
William "Billy" Cranston appears in the 2017 reboot, played by actor RJ Cyler. In this version, he is autistic unlike in the TV series. [8]
Kimberly is the main character in this comic book mini series published by Boom! Studios. The series is a modern remake but also serves as a continuation from Kimberly's exit in the third season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. [9]
The Boom! Studios comics feature Billy as a major character back in the original era, the series starting shortly after the battle with the Green Ranger.[ citation needed ]
In Power/Rangers Billy Cranston (played by Yves Bright), is trillionaire who buys Lockheed Martin and was found dead of an apparent suicide.[ citation needed ]
David Yost has stated he had walked off the show a few episodes prior to his character's departure, due to repeated and ongoing homophobic slurs by the creators, producers, directors, and writers of the series, [10] which is why he does not appear in them. However, producer Scott Page-Pagter has denied these statements, claiming Yost left over a salary dispute and had conflicts with members of the crew. [11] As a result, stock footage of Yost was used for his departure and the character was voiced by someone else (In broadcasting Billy's departing message to his friends, it was mentioned they were having trouble with the signal). He was also the last of the original Power Ranger team to leave the show, although his former teammate Jason had returned as the Gold Ranger at that time. [10]
It was widely believed that Billy's surname came from Bryan Cranston, who did voice work for Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, [12] and would later portray Zordon in the 2017 film. [13] [14] Bryan Cranston was told this and it was later confirmed to him from an unknown source. However, in recent years, promotional material for an attempted Bioman adaptation by Haim Saban, from 1984, revealed that the surname was decided on long before Cranston became involved with the series. [15]
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (MMPR) is an American superhero television series that premiered on August 28, 1993, on the Fox Kids programming block. It is the first entry of the Power Rangers franchise, and became a 1990s pop culture phenomenon along with a large line of toys, action figures, and other merchandise. The show adapted stock footage from the Japanese TV series Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (1992–1993), which was the 16th installment of Toei's Super Sentai franchise. The second and third seasons of the show drew elements and stock footage from Gosei Sentai Dairanger and Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, respectively, though the Zyuranger costumes were still used for the lead cast in these two seasons. Only the mecha and the Kiba Ranger costume from Dairanger were featured in the second season while only the Kakuranger mecha was featured in the third season, though the Kakuranger costumes were later used for the mini-series Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers. The series was produced by MMPR Productions and distributed by Saban Entertainment, while the show's merchandise was produced and distributed by Bandai Entertainment.
Rita Repulsa is a character from the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and the principal nemesis of the superhero protagonists in the show's first season. She is portrayed in the first season by Machiko Soga and by Carla Perez in the remaining seasons, while voiced by Barbara Goodson in the series. Soga reprised her role as Rita, now the Mystic Mother, while Susan Brady provided her voice in the TV series Power Rangers Mystic Force. In the films, she is portrayed by Julia Cortez in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, and by Elizabeth Banks in the 2017 reboot film. Rita Repulsa is based on the Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger villain Witch Bandora.
Zachary "Zack" Taylor is a fictional character in the Power Rangers universe, appearing in the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He is the first on-screen Black Ranger of Power Rangers. He would be succeeded as the Black Ranger by Adam Park. A reimagined version of Zack, now Chinese-American, would appear in the 2017 reboot film, played by Canadian actor Ludi Lin.
Dr. Thomas "Tommy" Oliver is a fictional character and the overarching main protagonist of the American live-action television franchise Power Rangers. He is best known as being the original Green Ranger and the first evil Ranger who fought and nearly defeated the original Power Rangers while under the control of Rita Repulsa. He was eventually freed from Rita's spell and aligned himself with the other Power Rangers. He is a main character in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV series, as well as four of its successive incarnations Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers Turbo, and Power Rangers Dino Thunder. He also appeared in the Power Rangers Wild Force episode "Forever Red", the Power Rangers S.P.D. episode "Wormhole", the Power Rangers Super Megaforce episode "Legendary Battle", and in the Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel episode "Dimensions in Danger". He was portrayed by actor Jason David Frank in all of his appearances from the Zordon era until Saban Brands era's seasons of the franchise prior to his death in November 2022, with the exception of the episode "Wormhole", where he appeared only in Ranger form and was voiced by actor Jeffrey Parazzo. He was also infrequently portrayed by actor Michael Gotto in instances where the story required the character during childhood, such as in the series Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers.
Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers is a Power Rangers mini-series set immediately after the end of the third season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. As with the third season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, this mini-series adapted footage and costumes from the eighteenth Super Sentai series, Ninja Sentai Kakuranger.
Power Rangers Zeo is a television series and the fourth season of the Power Rangers franchise, based on the 19th Super Sentai series Chouriki Sentai Ohranger. It is the continuation of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which aired in 1996.
Zordon is a fictional character from the Power Rangers franchise who serves as the Rangers' mentor. Zordon first appeared on the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and appeared in subsequent seasons until the conclusion of Power Rangers in Space, where he was the titular major supporting character of his saga.
Kimberly Ann Hart is a fictional character in the Power Rangers universe. Played by American actress Amy Jo Johnson during the first three seasons of the show, plus on the two feature films of the franchise, Kimberly has the longest tenure of any female ranger in the series' history, and fourth overall. She is best remembered as the first Pink Ranger (pterodactyl) and first Pink Ninja Ranger from the first entry of the franchise Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Kimberly was the Pink Ranger for nearly three years before she was written off the show as having given up her powers for good to Zordon's new pink ranger Katherine Hillard, to participate at the Pan Global Games in Florida. However, she would briefly return as the Pink Ranger on three occasions. She first returned during the Legendary Battle of Power Rangers Super Megaforce alongside former teammates Zack Taylor, Billy Cranston, Trini Kwan, and Jason Lee Scott. The five of them later fought alongside the Dino Thunder Rangers, Dino Charge Rangers, and the Grid Battleforce Rangers against Goldar Maximus in Power Rangers Beast Morphers. She also returned to fight a robotic version of Rita Repulsa with the other four original rangers and Tommy Oliver in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always. Johnson did not reprise her role for any of these appearances.
Trini Kwan is a fictional character from the Power Rangers franchise, first appearing in the original series as the Yellow Ranger. She was portrayed by Vietnamese-American actress Thuy Trang.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie is a 1995 American superhero film. It stars the ensemble cast of Karan Ashley, Johnny Yong Bosch, Steve Cardenas, Jason David Frank, Amy Jo Johnson, and David Yost alongside the villains cast from the original series and Paul Freeman as Ivan Ooze. Much like the television season that followed the release, it used concepts from the Japanese Super Sentai series Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, Gosei Sentai Dairanger and Ninja Sentai Kakuranger. It is the first Power Rangers production from Saban Entertainment not to feature any archived footage from Super Sentai. It is the first installment in the Power Rangers film series. The film was released in between the second and third seasons of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, but is incompatible with season three, which provides a different explanation for the Rangers gaining their Ninja Ranger powers and Ninjazords, indicating they are set in different continuities.
Jason Lee Scott is a fictional character in the Power Rangers franchise, played by actor Austin St. John. Jason is known as the first on screen Red Ranger from the first on screen series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, as well as the leader of the first on screen team of Power Rangers. He later becomes the temporary Gold Ranger in Power Rangers Zeo. He once again becomes the Red Ranger by Power Rangers: Beast Morphers, alongside his original team. A reimagined version of Jason appears in the 2017 reboot film, played by Australian actor Dacre Montgomery.
"Day of the Dumpster" is the first episode of both the American tokusatsu television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and the Power Rangers franchise. It premiered on the Fox network on August 28, 1993 as part of its Fox Kids programming block, and was later released on VHS and DVD. A new re-version of the episode later aired on ABC on January 2, 2010, as part of ABC Kids. As with the first season's episodes, most of the scenes featuring the Rangers in morphed form, the Zords and the villains are taken from the Japanese tokusatsu series, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, the 16th entry of the Power Rangers franchise's Japanese counterpart of origin, Super Sentai.
Spin Fighters were die-cast metal top toys that were manufactured by Bandai in China from 1993 to 1997. The tops were loaded into launchers, which were then tightly wound by fingertip, and subsequently released into the Spin Fighters Battle Arena or onto a flat surface. The tops battled until the last top spinning was the winner. Spin Fighters tops were about 1 inch across, came in black and gold colors, and bore a prismatic sticker with a character from a TV show or video game. Usually, the black tops represented the "bad guys" and the gold tops represented the "good guys". Spin Fighters were sold two to a package, one gold and one black. Power Launchers and Battle Arenas were available separately or bundled. The tops can be disassembled and worn on jackets, shirts and hats, through any small button hole. Production of Spin Fighters ceased around 1997.
Goldar is a fictional character from the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. A powerful yet overconfident warrior that serves under the command of Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd, he is one of the chief antagonists of the titular protagonists in the show's first three seasons. Goldar is based on the Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger villain Grifforzar.
"Shattered Grid" is a 2018 crossover comic book event published by Boom! Studios, in collaboration with Saban Brands. Based on the Power Rangers franchise by Haim Saban, it was mostly written by Kyle Higgins and Ryan Parrott through the ongoing comic series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Saban's Go Go Power Rangers to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original television series.
Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid is a fighting game developed by San Francisco-based game developer nWay, featuring characters from the Power Rangers franchise. It was released digitally for Nintendo Switch and Xbox One on March 26, 2019, for PlayStation 4 on April 2, 2019, for Microsoft Windows on September 24, 2019, and for Stadia on June 1, 2020. Limited Run Games released a standard physical version on the Switch and PlayStation 4 alongside a more expensive Mega Edition, which included a SteelBook case, 18" X 24" poster, and 5 coins in addition to the game. Pre-orders went up for sale in June 2019 with the game delivered in November 2019. In October 2020, Maximum Games published the "Collector's Edition" which included the character Lauren Shiba, both physically and digitally. A third version the Super Edition containing all previous downloadable content was released digitally in May 2021 and physically in August 2021.
"Necessary Evil" is a 2019–2020 crossover comic book event by Boom! Studios and Hasbro, based on the Power Rangers franchise created by Haim Saban. The event is written by Ryan Parrott and Sina Grace through the ongoing comic book series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Go Go Power Rangers, making it the second crossover event in the Power Rangers comics by Boom! after 2018's "Shattered Grid".
"Unlimited Power" is a 2020–2022 American two-part crossover comic book storyline published by Boom! Studios, based on the Power Rangers franchise by Haim Saban and Hasbro. It is the sequel to "Necessary Evil" and the third crossover event in the Power Rangers comics by Boom!
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always is a 2023 American superhero television film serving to commemorate the 30th anniversary of both Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993–1995) and the Power Rangers franchise.